[Globeandmail.com] June 30, 2005--The Anglican Church of Canada says it's trying to work with the larger international church on the issue of blessing same-sex unions, but is willing to walk away from the Anglican Communion.

Will the global South provinces change their mind on homosexuality if the Anglican Church of Canada threatens to leave the Anglican Communion?

[The Anglican Church of Cnanda] June 30, 2005--What follows is a statement from Archbishop Andrew S. Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, on the recently concluded meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, Eng.

[Virtue Online] June 30, 2005--The Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America moved closer towards intercommunion when the two jurisdictions met together here, and announced the formation of a Federation of Anglican Churches in America with official representatives of more than dozen jurisdictions and agencies signing a Federation document affirming a mutual commitment to work together in common cause for the sake of the gospel.

[Anglican Mainstream] June 29, 2005--The Anglican Diocese of Recife, Brazil – as all of you know - is composed by faithful people, both clergy and lay, loyal to the Anglican Communion and to the spiritual leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. For a long time you have followed its difficult challenge of keeping its autonomy, identity and beliefs, under heavy pressure, illegal actions and distorted versions from Brazilian Provincial Authorities. The Diocese has appealed to you since last year, looking for support and for a necessary and urgent institutional solution. Unhappily, no action was taken up to now.

[Virtue Online] June 29, 2005--A group of ECUSA bishops including two orthodox Primates and a Nigerian Archbishop met recently in St. Louis to examine in detail what was said and meant in the Windsor Report.

[Jerusalem Post] June 29, 2005--While the end-time scenarios offered by some evangelicals, are indeed disturbing for Jews - and many Christians - the hostility toward Israel encouraged by liberal Protestants poses a much greater near-term threat to Jews than anything the evangelicals espouse.

[The Church of England Newspaper] July 1, 2005--Sir, At the July meeting of the General Synod a motion is to be debated asking that the legal impediments for the ordination of women as bishops be re...

[The Church of England Newspaper] July 1, 2005--The Anglican Church has reinforced its upholding of traditional teaching on the homosexuality issue at the ACC meeting, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

[Christianity Today, UK] June 28, 2005--The Methodist Conference 2005 entered the third day on Monday with the agenda highlighting the first ecumenical report on the Anglican-Methodist Covenant prepared by the Joint Implementation Commission (JIC). Methodist leaders have warmly welcomed the report.

[WashingtonPost.com] June 28, 2005--Within hours of yesterday's Supreme Court decision allowing a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, Christian groups announced a nationwide campaign to install similar displays in 100 cities and towns within a year.

[SFGate.com] June 21, 2005--The 37-year-old inmate was ordained an Episcopal priest in a ceremony Saturday at California State Prison, Solano — an event church officials said was the first of its kind at a California prison and possibly the first in the country.

"It was quite a symbol of hope," said the Right Rev. William Swing, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California, who performed the ceremony. "It meant that resurrection is not just for the afterlife but here and now."

[The Oregonian] June 28, 2005--A lotus grows in the mud, the Eastern spiritual saying goes. But if the proliferation of Buddhist images, icons and language means anything, then it's also thriving in boardrooms, shopping malls and cyberspace.

[Reuters] June 28, 2005--The prospect of a television channel entirely devoted to gay programs for gay people may strike some as unnecessary and others as a sign of immoral times. Media giant Viacom thinks there's money in it.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 28, 2005--The likely final passage this evening of Canada’s same-sex marriage bill C-38 was eerily highlighted by today’s daily Mass readings, encountered by Catholics who attended Mass across the nation. Today’s scripture readings, which are established years ahead according to an international liturgical calendar, contained passages that astonished many by their direct relevance to the disturbing culmination of the same-sex marriage legislation battle.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 28, 2005--Canadian bishop Fred Henry, in a letter published in the Calgary Sun Sunday, argues that the proposed same-sex “marriage” law for Canada ignores what is in the best interests of children.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 28, 2005--Organizers for the annual March for Life both in Ottawa and in Washington are accustomed to having the mainstream news media drastically under-report the size of the crowds. What seems to be a policy of media-mandated expansion or deflation of crowd size appears to be directly proportional to the event's rating on the political correctness scale: the more liberal the cause; the higher the crowd estimate. Among the most enthusiastic media exaggerators is the publicly funded Canadian national broadcaster, the CBC.

{The Christian Post] June 29, 2005--Canadian lawmakers on Tuesday passed the controversial law to legalize gay marriage despite fierce opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders who vowed to continue the battle to protect marriage.

[The Christian Post] June 27, 2005--America's dominant media culture can lay claim on a universe of influential media, but The New York Times Magazine is one of the most strategic venues in elite publishing. A cover story in The New York Times Magazine sends a powerful cultural signal.

[Crosswalk.com] June 27, 2005--In comments at an Ivy League school, the president of the American Civil Liberties Union has indicated that among the "fundamental rights" of people is the right to polygamous relationships -- and that the ACLU has defended and will continue to defend that right.

[Crosswalk.com] June 29, 2005--Concerned parents need not resign themselves to defeat when activists demand that the local public school promote acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle to students. Just follow the example of David Williams.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

[The Christian Post] June 27, 2005--The Anglican Communion voted to close its doors to the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Canadian Church for three years at an international meeting last week, but sadly, no lesson seems learned. The two North American churches still affirm their ultra-liberal stance on the nature of homosexuality. And while they seem regretful for the split they caused within the Communion, they are far from understanding or even identifying the crux of the problem.

[The Age] June 29, 2005--An assessment of the vote to suspend the North American churches by Dr. Muriel Porter, a former lay member of the Anglican Consultative Council from Australia and a liberal sympathetic to the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada.

[Virtue Online] June 27, 2005--On a popular level ecumenical relations in Peru are the worst I have ever known. I have lived in four countries on three continents and have a working knowledge of the Church in most of the countries of South America. Any opportunity to pull down another part of the Christian Church is rarely missed. Suspicion, half-truth and prejudice seem to dominate the religious landscape.

[Virtue Online] June 28, 2005--It is a defining moment. With last Friday's vote by the Anglican Consultative Council to 'commend' divestment from companies supporting Israel's polices, based on a travesty of a report on Israel by the Anglican Peace and Justice Network, the Anglican church has descended into the moral abyss.

[Virtue Online] June 27, 2005--"To Set Our Hope on Christ" (TSOHOC), the document circulated by the ECUSA delegation at Nottingham, is condescending and pedantic: condescending in its assumption that the Episcopal Church's rationale represents advanced thinking on a subject where the rest of the Christian world needs to catch up, pedantic in its fatuous quotation of one-sided and dull official reports and statements to bolster its case. It is unworthy of the VTS scholars who are credited with writing it. I suppose they felt constrained, in the spirit of Marse Robert, to sacrifice their all for the Great Cause.

[Virtue Online] June 24, 2005--We have been disappointed and felt betrayed. After the passing of the Lambeth 1998 resolution 1.10 the Anglican Church of Kenya breathed a sigh of relief that the unity in the Anglican Communion was strong enough to carry out even the homework directed by the spirit of the resolution

[Stand Firm Louisiana] June 26, 2005--The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, related the New Testament lesson to our current situation in the Anglican Communion during his sermon at the Diocesan Celebration for the 13th Meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), . He asks the question, "Can you walk away?"

[Virtue Online] June 27, 2005--The President of the American Anglican Council David C. Anderson has blasted an interview that David W. Virtue conducted with the Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango charging him with the following errors and misstatements. Virtue says that he did not get it wrong but the Anglican Communion is the victim of spin by Archbishop Peter Carnley.

[The Christian Post] June 28, 2005--The United States Supreme Court on Monday issued split decisions on the public display of Ten Commandments monuments on government property, sending what critics called “mixed signals to the American public."

[American Anglican Council] June 26, 2005--At the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, following the presentations by the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) and the Anglican Church of Canada, some of the provinces from the Global South were invited to make their own presentations on human sexuality.

The primate and bishops of South East Asia said that the Anglican Church in the nine nations of their province was subjected to embarrassment and ridicule, and was being degraded and discredited by what is being shamelessly practiced in the North American provinces.

From the Southern Cone of Latin America, a statement read by Bishop William Godfrey of Peru said that, on a popular level, relations with other churches in Peru were the worst he had ever known and the global Anglican Church was in disorder and disarray. "For a missionary diocese like ours, it has been a body blow," the statement said.

Bishop Samson Mwaluda from the Anglican Church of Kenya said that they had done their homework and had listened to ECUSA and Canada but did not feel that ECUSA had listened to them: "We have repeatedly requested for biblical explanations of their actions, so we can relate it to our tradition,"he said. "Instead of helping us in this we are crowded with political, sociological and historical reasons."" The debate at hand touches on Christian witness, morals, understanding of marriage, God's creation of man and woman, the fall of man, and message of transformation."

Bishop Gerard Mpango from Tanzania noted that there was little or no recognition that a significant part of the Episcopal Church rejects the viewpoint presented at the ACC and stands firmly with the rest of the Communion. The only mention of those who have experienced transformation in their sexual lives was offered in a dismissive manner, he noted. "In the province of Tanzania we have seen many men and women undergo profound transformation in every aspect of their lives," he said. "It is the heart of the message that we preach and it is why we continue to experience God's blessing on our life and ministry."

[American Anglican Council] June 27, 2005--The occasion of this Position Paper is the current crisis in the Anglican Communion in which the “fabric of our communion” has been torn at its deepest level because of recent actions and decisions in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) on matters relating to human sexuality. At the same time, we rejoice in the opportunity to reflect more deeply on these matters as they relate in our Ugandan context.

Monday, June 27, 2005

I believe that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is wrong in his insistence that expulsion is not the way to deal with sin. Among the reasons that the Episcopal Church USA has drifted into apostasy is that it has failed to discipline its leaders who have apostatized from the Christian faith and have espoused heretic ideas and practices – individuals like Bishops Pike, Spong, and Righter. As in the case of a rebellious teenager whose parents fail to set and enforce firm limits, the lack of discipline encouraged further rebellion. The Bible also tells us that if a sinner does not repent of his sin despite repeated admonitions to turn from his sinful ways, expulsion from the church is the next appropriate step – excommunication until the sinner has repented. Once the sinner has repented, he may then be restored to the fellowship of the church. The practice of the early Church was to place the repentant sinner upon probation for a period of time to ensure that his repentance was genuine.

Expulsion from the Anglican Communion may not immediately turn the Episcopal Church from its present course. However, it will discourage the spread of its heretical ideas and practices and serve as a warning to others. Williams’ reluctance to expel the Episcopal Church can be attributed at least in part to his sympathy with the position of the Episcopal Church on homosexuality. Like many liberals in the Anglican Communion he also confuses tolerance of sin with compassion and forgiveness toward the sinner. Expulsion of the Episcopal Church would force the Church of England to take a harder line against the blessing of same sex unions and the ordination of clergy involved in same sex relationships, that has been going on in a number of dioceses in violation of the Church of England’s stated position on homosexuality.

If the Episcopal Church USA is not expelled from the Anglican Communion, a split between the liberal Western (or Northern) provinces and the orthodox global South provinces is not unlikely. At the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham, England Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola called for the suspension of the Episcopal Church from all bodies of the Anglican Communion for the next three years. His motion was watered down and passed by a very narrow margin. While liberals in the Episcopal Church interpret this vote to mean that the Episcopal Church still has friends in the Anglican Communion and therefore need not fear any disciplinary action, what it does indicate is the growing division in the Anglican Communion which the Episcopal Church’s sanctioning of same sex blessings and consecration of a bishop living in a same sex relationship has exposed and exacerbated. Expulsion of the Episcopal Church would threaten the aspirations of liberals in the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of New Zealand, the Church of South Africa, and the Episcopal Church of Brazil to normalize homosexuality in these churches.

The churches in the liberal bloc are not free from conflict over the affirmation of homosexuality. The evangelical wing of the Church of England forced Williams himself to reconsider his decision to permit the appointment of Jeffrey Johns, an outspoken advocate of gay rights, who is involved in a same sex relationship. The revisionist Archbishop of Brazil has deposed the orthodox Bishop of Recife because the Diocese of Recife under his leadership has resisted revisionist efforts to normalize homosexuality in that church. When the revisionist bishops in the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church issued a statement saying that they had no objections to ordaining those involved in same sex relationships, the evangelical Scottish Anglican Network responded by announcing that it would have to reconsider its participation in the Scottish Episcopal Church. The evangelical wing of the Church of Ireland is strongly opposed to the endorsement of homosexuality. The Bishop of Meath and Connor has spoken out against civil partnerships in Northern Ireland. The bishops of at least three dioceses in the Church of South Africa have protested the actions of 2003 General Convention and the consecration of Gene Robinson. A split in the Anglican Communion is likely to lead to splits in the churches of the liberal bloc.

After the vote at the Nottingham meeting on the watered-down version of the motion calling for the Episcopal Church’s withdrawal from all bodies of the Anglican Communion for three years, Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango was reported to have declared that the CAPA provinces would now take the matter into their own hands. The time had come for the leadership of the Anglican Communion to be shifted from Canterbury in the British Isles to Alexandria in Egypt. This report, however, has not been substantiated. If it is true, then a split in the Anglican Communion definitely looms on the horizon.

US Episcopalians form a very tiny percentage of the Anglicans in the world. Yet the actions of the Episcopal Church USA has done inestimable damage to the world Anglican community. They have not only harmed the mission of Anglican churches around the world but also they have set back ecumenical and interfaith relations. The bonds of affection that unite the Anglican Communion have been strained to the breaking point. Rather than insisting that it should be allowed to dictate the terms on which it can remain part of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church should voluntarily withdraw from the Anglican Communion for the good of the world Anglican community. This self-sacrificing action on the part of the Episcopal Church might keep the Anglican Communion together and certainly would go far in restoring the Communion’s damaged image as well as the bonds of affection between its remaining members. To press on in pursuit of its own agenda without regard to the effects upon fellow Anglicans as the Episcopal Church has done so far will only do more harm to the Anglican Communion. It will only confirm in the eyes of world Anglicans the recklessness and irresponsibility of the Episcopal Church and its leaders.

Whether or not the Episcopal Church USA is expelled from the Anglican Communion, the likelihood of a split in the Episcopal Church grows every day. The radical view of sin and salvation presented by the Episcopal Church at the Nottingham meeting rules out any kind of peaceful coexistence between revisionists and orthodox in the church. Anglicans have historically agreed to disagree on matters that are indifferent to salvation but not on those that are not. Anglicans have also viewed the Bible as the final authority in matters of faith and practice. For Anglicans, revealed truth, not shifting cultural norms, set the standard for a Christian’s moral behavior. To orthodox Episcopalians same sex affirmation involves a salvation issue. The Bible takes only one position on homosexuality. It is detestable to God. Indeed, homosexuality exemplifies the fallen human condition and humanity’s separation from God – the human race’s failure to live in a right relationship with God. Homosexuality is not the gravest sin but it is grave enough to keep the unrepentant homosexual practitioner out of the kingdom of God. The Bible makes no exception for homosexual couples living in a committed, loving, and physically affectionate relationship.

The Anglican Church of Canada's Primate Archbishop Andrew Hutchinson may be premature in his appraisal that the motion suspending the North American churches form the Anglican Consultative Council will have no practical effect.

[American Anglican Council] June 25, 2005--David Virtue gets it wrong again! Virtue got it wrong in Dromantine, N. Ireland, when he rushed to print before the Primates had actually agreed on what they were doing. He has gotten it wrong several times when he went with stories on the American Anglican Council.

Now it has happened again in Nottingham. Virtue apparently interviewed a Primate, one for whom English is his seventh out of eight languages, and he has run with a major breaking story. The only trouble is it is catastrophically wrong. Many of the Primates, operating in English instead of their first language, do fairly well until they are being interviewed with demanding and nuanced questions. And sometimes they also are wrong on the facts. Combine all that with not checking a story with other reputable sources and a desire to scoop everyone and break a story, and you have a story that should be retracted and should have been gotten right the first time.

What did Virtue get wrong this time? He reports that an Alexandria, Egypt, meeting of the Global South Primates soon will break with Canterbury and the Communion and form a new Anglican Communion. At least that's how I read it, and that's simply wrong.

There is a meeting in October for leaders of the Global South--it has been in the planning for years, and it is the third of the South South Encounters. They have invited Archbishop Rowan Williams to join them, and are understanding that he intends to come--hardly the mark of a rebellion.

Things could change, they seem to on a regular basis, but orthodox Anglicans have had a string of victories, albeit partial victories. The Lambeth Commission took a step in our direction, and their findings, The Windsor Report, although flawed in some areas, took several major steps in our direction. Dromantine was a huge step in our direction, and now, in the most liberal of Anglican institutions, the Anglican Consultative Council, we have had some very significant victories. Is this slow process frustrating? Absolutely! But is it moving in the right direction? Absolutely!

The Global South Primates may well be interested in meeting again after the ECUSA General Convention in 2006, to weigh ECUSA in the balance. They will probably press for a full Primates meeting post-GC '06 and pre-Lambeth '08. There is every reason for the orthodox primates to stay on board because the tide globally is running with orthodoxy. Whether or not Virtue runs a restatement of his article on a supposed breakup, a meeting in Egypt or Antarctica isn't going to see a declaration of independence from the communion. No one quits when they are winning.

Now about the victories here in Nottingham: clearly the vote to go with Lambeth 1.10, and with the Windsor Report and with the Primates from Dromantine, was huge. Anglican Communion Office decisions that seemed favorable to the ECUSA folks were apparently mistakes and poor judgment calls that are reflective of the past. I was asked by an ACO official what my perception of the ACO office was, and I replied that I, and the AAC, and really many orthodox Anglican leaders in North America, viewed the ACO as an appendage of the Frank Griswold 815 office. They did bristle at that. Was I unfair? They asked my perception, I didn't say it was Gospel truth, but it was my perception. They argue Peterson is gone and we should give Kearon a chance. The chance is given, but it has started off with several miscues. The ACCanadians and ECUSA representatives were given green badges that looked just like the seated delegates; mistake. They were seated to begin with in the Ecumenical Guests area, and introduced and allowed to bring greetings; mistake. They were allowed to eat their meals with the official delegates; mistake (do you suppose they worked the meal table?). They asked for and were given a small room to meet in during the small group time, just like other official small groups; mistake. Some changes did happen after we raised protestations, but they continued to eat with the delegates; mistake. Are we willing to work with the Kearon administration? Absolutely. Are we looking for major improvement after a really sketchy start here in Nottingham? Absolutely. Will we see it? I guess I am a pragmatic optimist. Is that an oxymoron? I hope not, especially the latter part. I do hope, but I count my change; trust is in short supply.

Next ACC meeting the Global Primates will be with the delegations, and that will not only shift the voting to the orthox in a pronounced way, but it will embolden the Third World delegations to speak out even more clearly and be heard. No one folds their cards when they are holding a handful of aces. Are there still very difficult times? Yes indeed, especially in the States. Unless a huge counterattack in the next few days erases the gains made (which is always possible), the Normandy Beach has been taken and the heights above taken. There is still a great deal of suffering before the heresy of ECUSA has been separated from the Anglican body. Press forward with us.

[Globeandmail.com] June 27, 2005--Senior Canadians Anglicans present for the council see homosexuality as a proxy issue in a power struggle for control of the Anglican Communion by evangelical global South Anglican leaders well financed by conservative Anglicans in the U.S. In other words, homosexuality itself isn't the issue on which the communion may fracture: it is homosexuality plus the ordination of women priests and appointments of women bishops, plus modernization of the liturgy, plus a raft of other changes such as allowing children to take communion.

How revisionists love the right wing conspiracy theory to shift the blame for all the problems that they have created away from themselves!

[The Christian Post] June 27, 2005--Canada’s government begins another week of debate, the first time in 17 years that the federal government has agreed to extend their sitting, with a focus on the controversial same-sex legislation to legalize same-sex marriage throughout Canada.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

[Anglican Mission in America] June 25, 2005--After many months of growth and development as an independent, orthodox Anglican congregation, the Anglican Fellowship of Chattanooga has joined the AMiA. With a solid commitment to historic liturgy, evangelism and growth the 100 members are looking to move forward with the arrival of their new Rector, the Rev. Steve Kelley of Roanoke, Virginia. To read more, click the above link.

[Anglican Mission in America] June 25, 2005--After more than four years on the move since its establishing as a new church, Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida has its own building. Congregation members marched from the Civic Center, home for many months, to the new church, along Highway 98 through the center of Destin. The Rev. Mike Hesse charged the congregation to fully enter into all the possibilities of ministry now that they had taken up their new place. "We’ve been saying’ When we get into the building….’ for four plus years now. Well, we’re here! Now there are no excuses. The fields are white with harvest, and it’s time for us to get to work. " To read the story, click the above link.

[Anglican Mission in America] June 25, 2005--After serving nearly 8 years as Rector of Saint Andrews Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, Bishop TJ Johnston has announced that he will be involved in planting a new church in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. This move will be, in many ways, a homecoming for +TJ and Rees, who lived in Charleston prior to the call to ordained ministry. Mt. Pleasant is one of the fastest growing cities in the region, and will become a new center for Bishop Johnston's ministry as he oversees churches in the United States and Canada. To read his letter to St. Andrews, click the above link.

[Winston-Salem Journal] June 25, 2005--A lesbian member of an American delegation giving a spiritual defense of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion says she sees the church reaching a critical milestone on gay issues.

[Anglican Journal] June 22, 2005--The Anglican Consultative Council, in a narrow vote, decided today to endorse a request from Anglican primates that Canada and the U.S. withdraw from the council until the 2008 Lambeth Conference and, further, that the two North American churches “voluntarily withdraw” from two key council committees.

[Anglican Journal] June 22, 2005--The Anglican Consultative Council on June 22 approved a major change to its structure, voting to allow the 38 primates (national bishops) of the Anglican Communion to join the international group.

[The Journal Gazette] June 25, 2005--While the Episcopal and United Methodist churches have struggled over homosexuality, another mainline Protestant denomination – the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – has been relatively quiet. But that’s changing.

[Virtue Online] June 24, 2005--Leaders of four Anglican Communion provinces ripped the Episcopal and Canadian churches today and said in no uncertain terms that the actions by two North American provinces "embracing unholy sexual practices" was hurting evangelism, promoted ostracism and was a salvation issue.

[Virtue Online] June 24, 2005--The Archbishop of Central Africa says that an exit strategy from the Anglican Communion has been drawn up and schism will occur before the next Lambeth Conference, with a new world headquarters for Anglicanism in Alexandria, Egypt, because the North American churches will not repent of their actions condoning "immoral sexual behavior".

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005--The last hurdle standing in the way of passage of the gay 'marriage' bill was swept away last night by political manipulations that make the Canadian Parliament an embarrassment to traditions of democratic process. The vote on the budget Bill C-48 was the final opportunity to bring down the Liberal government and thus defeat the gay 'marriage' legislation. Now, barring a miracle, Bill C-38 will pass next week.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005--An employee of the Allstate insurance company has been fired from his job for comments that appeared in a men’s journal denouncing same-sex “marriage,” even though the statement was penned in the employee’s own spare time and from home.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005--Jerusalem officials cancelled this year’s fourth annual “gay pride” parade Thursday, originally scheduled for June 30, citing the fear that the march would offend Jewish, Muslim and Christian residents of the holy city.

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005--In Massachusetts, as has happened in nearly every province of Canada, the courts have ruled that homosexual partnerings must be legally equated with normal marriage. The Massachusetts court said that any bill that fails to call homosexual unions 'marriage' would create an “unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples.”

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005---Bloc Québécois MP Francine Lalonde has introduced a private members bill to legalize assisted suicide in Canada. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has condemned the measure saying, "This bill is so wide open it provides no effective restrictions whatsoever and if passed it will be assisted suicide on demand."

[LifeSiteNews.com] June 24, 2005--New Brunswick is the latest casualty in the judicial tyranny that seeks to establish same-sex “marriage” as the norm for Canada, as a judge there struck down prohibitions on two people of the same sex becoming “married” Thursday.

[Baptist Press News] June 23, 2005--"The Sky Didn't Fall in Mass.," was the headline of a column that appeared in the May 17 edition of USA Today. The piece marked the one-year anniversary of "gay marriage" in the Bay State.

[Crosswalk.com] June 24, 2005--America's dominant media culture can lay claim on a universe of influential media, but The New York Times Magazine is one of the most strategic venues in elite publishing. A cover story in The New York Times Magazine sends a powerful cultural signal.

Thus, Russell Shorto's June 19, 2005 cover story in the magazine, "What's the Movement to Outlaw Gay Marriage Really About?," deserves significant attention. Interest in the article is likely to be sparked by a line printed on the cover just under the article's title. That line suggests that the battle to outlaw gay marriage is "not just about marriage." Of course, that statement is profoundly true--and that's what makes Shorto's article interesting.

[CNSNews.com] June 24, 2005--The Supreme Court of Canada agreed Thursday it will decide whether the rights of surviving partners in same-sex unions to receive "widows' benefits" should be made retroactive to 1985.

[Church Time] June 25, 2005--The Archbishop of Canterbury appealed to the ACC to think how its deliberations would sound to a world focused on the G8 summit, and "boiling over" with feelings of grief, anger and frustration about justice and environmental issues.

[Church Times] June 25, 2005--When the General Synod meets in York from 8 to 12 July, it will be the final group of sessions of this quinquennium, said William Fittall, the Secretary General, at a press briefing on Thursday of last week.

Friday, June 24, 2005

[Canadaeast.com] 24th June 2005--The Anglican communion's decision to exclude its Canadian wing from two committees of the influential Anglican Consultative Council over the Canadians' stance on homosexuality is regretable, the head of the Anglican Church of Canada said Thursday.

[LifeSiteNews.com] 23rd June 2005-- The global Anglican Communion’s Consultative Council maintained their expulsion of clergy members of the Canadian Anglican and US Episcopal churches over disagreement with their respective positions on homosexual “marriage” and clergy Wednesday.

[American Anglican Council] 22nd June 2005--The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) today passed a resolution that both affirmed the traditional position of the Communion as expressed in Lambeth 1.10 and endorsed the Primates’ request that “in order to recognize the integrity of all parties, the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members” from the ACC before the next Lambeth Conference in 2008. The measure passed by a vote of 30 – 28 with four Council members abstaining. This action was consistent with the mind of the Communion that upholds the Scriptural and traditional view of human sexuality and marriage. We are pleased that this decision increases the clarity of these issues in the Communion.

[The Living Church] 23rd June 2005--The razor thin vote on Nune 22 to exclude the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada from the Anglican Consultative Council has cast a pall over ACC-13 in Nottingham.

[Anglican Mainstream] 23rd June 2005--The recent events in ECUSA and the Anglican Church in Canada which led to the Lambeth Commission on Communion, the Windsor Report and finally the Communique from the Primates in February this year at Dromantine, Ireland, all have had a negative effect on the integrity of the Anglican Church in South East Asia in particular and on the Christian churches of other denominations in that region in general. This is not an overstatement or an exaggeration of the situation there. In a region that is dominated by Muslims and Buddhists, both of whom are exceptionally conservative and parochial on matters of human sexuality and religion, Christianity which is perceived as a religion of the Westerners, has been subjected to embarrassment and ridicule.

[Virtue Online] 24th June 2005--Miffed at being tossed off of two significant committees of the Anglican Consultative Council, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold lashed out at the decision saying that the vote was only lost because of the missing six votes of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, adding that it revealed a divide within the membership of the ACC.

[The Church of England Newspaper] 24th June 2005--On the first full day of business the Archbishop of Canterbury headed off two resolutions, one of which called for full voice and vote for the ‘disinvited’ North American delegations and another which called for them to be ejected. He appealed for forbearance.

But after the presentation by the North Americans on Tuesday in which they explained the changes on sexuality which they have introduced, a resolution strongly backed by Africa delegates, called on the Canadian and US group to withdraw not just from the Anglican Consultative Council but from all other official bodies of the Anglican Communion until the next Lambeth Conference.

This resolution was backed by the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, delegates from Asia, and Africa, as well as the Church of England’s lay delegate, Mrs Elizabeth Paver.

[The Church of England Newspaper] 24th June 2005--The Anglican Communion’s war over homosexuality slipped into stalemate on Tuesday night when delegates to ACC-13 in Nottingham, exhausted by three hours of North American presentations on homosexuality, cancelled plans for further discussion.

[NCTimes.com] June 23, 2005--The Anglican Communion on Wednesday rejected an attempt by traditionalists to punish the U.S. and Canadian wings of the church for their stance on homosexuality, watering down a resolution that called for the North Americans to be suspended from all church bodies.

[National Post] June 23, 2005--The fierce battle within the Anglican Church over homosexual clergy and same-sex marriage has brought the Canadian and American branches of the faith to the brink of banishment by the Church's ruling bodies meeting in England.

[Christianity Today, UK] June 23, 2005--On 22nd June, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting in the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England, passed an important resolution dealing with the Primates' Statement at Dromantine, Ireland in February. It requested the voluntary withdrawal of the US Episcopal Church (ECUSA) and the Anglican Church of Canada from the Anglican Consultative Council, for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference.

[Spero News] June 23, 2005--The Anglican Communion moved another step toward formal schism on Wednesday when one of its key bodies endorsed a request by senior bishops for the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) and Canada’s Anglican Church to temporarily withdraw from its councils over a refusal to change their liberal policies on homosexuality.

[Globandmail.com] June 23, 2005--The Anglican communion yesterday rejected an attempt by traditionalists to punish the U.S. and Canadian wings of the church for their stand on homosexuality, watering down a resolution that called for the North Americans to be suspended from all church bodies.

[The Anglican Church of Canada] June 23, 2005--The decision to exclude the Anglican Church of Canada from two Anglican Consultative Council committees on which it does not sit is regrettable in principle but will have no practical effect, says Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Canadian church.

[Virtue Online] June 23, 2005--In what is undoubtedly the toughest statement yet to emerge from the Anglican Consultative Council meeting here, the lay delegate from South East Asia, accused the North American Churches of dragging the Communion to a slow death over homosexual behavior.

[Virtue Online] June 22, 2005--The Episcopal Church which, for almost 40 years has pushed the normalcy of homosexuality, reaffirmed its position both theologically and practically for the ordination of homosexual persons to all orders of ministry, and appealed, once again, to remain in the worldwide Anglican Communion of some 78 million Anglicans.

[Virtue Online] June 22, 2005--In a further attempt to isolate the American Episcopal Church and the Canadian Anglican Church over homosexuality issues, two resolutions passed today at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting that said the Communion will continue to "listen to the experience of homosexual persons" but must withdraw their members from two significant ACC committees.

[Episcopal News Service, Nottingham] June 21, 2005--The blessing of same-gender unions in the Anglican Church of Canada was the focus of its June 21 presentation to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC).

[Titusonenine] June 22, 2005--I know that you have a “settled agenda". I know we have procedures and I am not unaware of the rule of meetings, but with due respect I wish to remind you that we are not here as independent individuals.

[American Anglican Council] June 22, 2005--The Episcopal Church’s presentation to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) asserts a new gospel marked by theology and doctrine contrary to Holy Scripture and inconsistent with the historic faith and practice of Anglicanism. ECUSA’s statements were framed by specific arguments they have espoused for at least 15 years. Their profession that the Holy Spirit led ECUSA to consecrate a non-celibate homosexual and bless same sex unions is deeply disturbing, and we reject the validity of such a claim as contrary to God’s word revealed. Additionally, Lambeth 1.10 has expressed the mind of the Communion on this issue, and this positionstands as authoritative. We note that even the theological arguments of ECUSA are based on experience (unchecked by the experience of the Church Universal), seeking to use Scripture to validate that experience. In addition, the presentation failed to accurately describe the deep divisions within the Episcopal Church and the strong sense of betrayal, anxiety and grief experienced by tens of thousands across the nation.

[Episcopal News Service] June 22, 2005--After discussion in three business sessions, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) voted June 22 to change its constitution to include the 37 Primates as ex officio members, thereby increasing the membership from 78 to 115.

[The Australian] June 23, 2005--The US Anglican Church has given the first justification of its decision to consecrate an openly gay man to the episcopate, arguing that same-sex unions can be open "to God's blessing and holy purposes" in the same manner as marriage.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

[Pittsburg Post-Gazette] June 22, 2005--Citing same-sex unions as "a new reality, a sacred union" in a presentation yesterday before a key Anglican Communion council, the U.S. Episcopal Church defended its 2004 decision to ordain a noncelibate gay bishop, keeping itself on a collision course for a possible split with the worldwide church.

[The Washington Times] June 22, 2005--The U.S. and Canadian wings of the Anglican Communion yesterday defended their controversial approval of homosexual bishops and same-sex unions -- stances that already threaten to drive the 77-million-strong worldwide Communion to the brink of schism.

[Guardian Unlimited] June 22, 2005--American and Canadian bishops yesterday failed in their attempt to convince fellow Anglicans that their liberal stance on homosexuality was prompted by God and their religious faith.

[Detroit Free Press] June 22, 2005--The U.S. Episcopal Church defended on Tuesday its decision to ordain an openly gay bishop, refusing to back down from a confrontation that threatens to split the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.

[Christianity Today, IK] June 22, 2005--The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) on Tuesday 21st June in Nottingham, England, has been filled with tenseness and anxiety. The day saw a total of 10 representatives from the US Episcopal Church (ECUSA) and the Anglican Church of Canada give presentations on their liberal attitudes towards homosexuality, to members of the Council from 50 countries.

[The Anglican Church of Canada] June 2, 2005--Representatives of the Anglican Church of Canada yesterday responded to a request from the Primates of the Communion that they address the Anglican Consultative Council to explain where the church is on the issue of same-sex blessings and how it arrived there.

[Sydney Morning Herald] June 23, 2005--United States and Canadian bishops have failed to convince fellow Anglicans that their liberal stance on homosexuality was prompted by God and their religious faith.

[Episcopal News Service, Nottingham] June 21, 2005--Answering a request of the Anglican Communion's international Lambeth Commission, the Episcopal Church has today released a paper titled "To Set Our Hope on Christ: A Response to the Invitation of Windsor Report Paragraph 135."

The essay can be found athttp://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/ToSetOurHopeOnChrist.pdf.You will need an Acrobat Reader to download the file. "To Set Our Hope on Christ" assembles in one document the arguements that the revisionists in the Episcopal Church have been using to rationalize their innovations - the blessing of same sex unions and the consecration of a bishop openly involved in sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman. It does not break any new ground. However, it does offer a glimpse into the defective theology of the Episcopal Church and its most recent prayer book, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The authors of the essay brazenly suggest that the Episcopal Church has received a new revelation from the Holy Spirit. Those who are opposing the revisionists' innovations are opposing God. It equates the opponents of these innovations with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who opposed Jesus. The document is thoroughly revisionist in its approach to Scripture. It takes up a favorite mantra of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold that Scripture has many meanings. It is also post-modern in its assertion that what may be wrong for one church may not be wrong for another. From what I have read so far, the arguments in the essay are based upon a number of false premises. For example, the essay presupposes that sexual activity between members of the same sex involved in a loving, committed relationship is not a sin. Homosexual couples living in such relationships are holy. And so on. The basis of these presuppositions is not the Bible but the conviction of "some members of the Episcopal Church." This conviction is given the authority that Anglicanism has traditionally reserved for the Holy Scriptures.I am looking forward to a thorough critique of the essay by orthodox theologians, one similar to the Australian Church League's critiques of the Windsor report. Like the Windsor Report, "To Set Our Hope on Christ" is a highly flawed document.

[Guardian Unlimited] June 21, 2005--The U.S. Episcopal Church on Tuesday defended its decision to ordain an openly gay bishop, refusing to back down from a confrontation that threatens to split the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.

[Virtue Online] June 22, 2005--When the secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, Canon Kenneth Kearon attended the Council of General Synod (CoGS) of the Canadian Anglican Church recently, he said it wasn't his place to indicate how the ACC should make its decision on whether or not the Canadians should attend the meeting in Nottingham.

[Times Online] June 22, 2005--Anglican Church of the US gave the first justification yesterday of its decision to consecrate an openly homosexual man to the episcopate, arguing that same-sex unions can be open "to God's blessing and holy purposes" in the same manner as marriage. At a meeting in Nottingham of Anglican leaders from around the world, delegates from the US said the blessing of same-sex unions constitutes a "new reality, a sacred union".

[Christianity Today, UK] June 21, 2005--As one of the agendas on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting in Nottingham, England yesterday, theological education was highlighted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams to the audience consisting of bishops, clergy and representatives from 50 countries within the Anglican Communion worldwide.

[EV News] June 21, 2005--It is reported that Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of the Diocese of Recife has been deposed by the liberal establishment in the Church of Brazil.Bishop Robinson recently sent a delegate to Lambeth Palace to appeal for consideration by the Panel of Reference. The Diocese of Recife has incurred the wrath of the rest of the Province because of its attachment to biblical morality and the willingness of the Bishop to speak out on such matters.

[Crosswalk.com] June 22, 2005--Canada's parliament may indefinitely delay in its lengthy summer break so the Liberal government can push through a controversial law giving same-sex couples the same rights to civil marriage as heterosexuals.

[The Christian Post] June 21, 2005--One of the greatest fears some evangelical Christians hold in contemporary society is homosexuality, and more specifically, the acceptance of homosexuality in public schools.

[LifeSite.News.com] June 21, 2005--The American Medical Association is backing a proposal that would force pharmacists to dispense abortifacients like the morning-after emergency abortion and birth control pill or refer to another pharmacist to have the prescriptions filled.

[The Christian Post] June 22, 2005--The decline of active membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by 43,175 last year is “a wake-up call,” according to the head of the 2.3-million-member denomination.

[The Christian Post] June 22, 2005--Concerned with the loss of youth after graduating from high school, Mission America and the National Network of Youth Ministries joined Ministry Edge in a new network to urge ministries, churches, and others across America to bring about a change.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

[Globeandmail.com] June 21, 2005--Anglican bishops from Canada and the United States gathered in England on Tuesday to brief a top church body on their position on homosexuality – an issue that threatens to split the 77 million-strong global communion.

[The Washington Times] June 21, 2005--The vice president of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria will be among a team of seven Episcopal bishops and clergy in England today, making the case for homosexual clergy in the 70-million-member Anglican Communion.

[365gay.com] June 20, 2005--Leaders of the Anglican faith from around the world have gathered in Nottingham, England to hear arguments from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada on gay inclusion.

[Anglican Communion Institute] June 19, 2005--The Anglican Consultative Council prepares to meet and, among other things, hear from U.S. Episcopalians as they provide a rationale for the divisive actions of the last General Convention. In what follows, Dr. Witt provides an overview and evaluation of common arguments in favor of same-sex partnerships and blessings. The ACI hopes this critical review helps focus and hold accountable the discussion about to ensue over the next days.

[Anglican Journal] June 20, 2005--Conservative Canadian Anglicans, meeting in Toronto June 16-18, were urged to join two new groups, one of them working towards becoming the official replacement for the Anglican Church of Canada in anticipation that it may be “suspended or removed from the Anglican Communion” or may decide to “walk apart” over the thorny issue of sexuality.

[Guardian Unlimited] June 21, 2005--Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, pleaded for the "catastrophic" Anglican communion to hold together yesterday in tolerance, if no longer love, at the start of a key conference of representatives from the church's 38 provinces meeting at Nottingham University.

Even as he did so, however, plotting and mutual recriminations continued over the presence of observers from the US Episcopal Church who had been asked to stay away from the meeting. Rival US factions sat at the back of the hall glowering at each other amid accusations of bad faith.

[Christianity Today, UK] June 21, 2005--The 13th Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-13) meeting commenced on 19th June with a Eucharist in St Peter's Church, Nottingham, England, celebrated by bishops, clergy and church representatives from more than 50 countries.

With the presence of the guest preacher - General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK) Rev Dr Joel Edwards - the central and common concern for all Anglicans to seek for the truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit was highlighted in his sermon, amid the ongoing debate on human sexuality which has caused painful rift in the Church and widespread critics in the society.

[Christianity Today, UK] June 20, 2005--The setting for this year’s ACC, however, is marked with unbridled divisions that stem from the U.S. Episcopal Church’s (ECUSA) ordination of an active homosexual bishop and the Canadian church’s blessing of same-sex unions.

[The Christian Post] June 21, 2005--Anglican leaders will hear from the head of the U.S. Anglican church and other presenters regarding the theological justification behind the decision to ordain an openly gay bishop, an event which has nearly caused a split in the worldwide communion.

[The Australian] June 21, 2005--Anglican leaders will hear for the first time today a theological justification by the heads of the Canadian and US churches for their actions over homosexuals, which have brought the Anglican community to the brink of schism.

[Anglican Communion News Service] June 20, 2005--A colourful international procession through Nottingham's city centre was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, marking the start of the 10 day meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.

[Anglican Mainstream] June 21, 2005--A True Hearing is a selection of materials for the Anglican Consultative Council in its "hearing" on issues of human sexuality. It is commended by Drexel Gomez, the Primate of the West Indies.

[Anglican Communion News Service] June 20, 2005-- don't think that this question is quickly resolved. There are those who say, 'This is an issue of justice, comparable to the rights of black people in the Western world, or the rights of women. Our church must be inclusive of all, committed to liberation for all from the burden of prejudice and hatred'. And there are those who say, 'The Bible is clear; there is no argument to be had'. Yet the latter people often in practice find they are themselves interpreting Scripture more flexibly in other areas. And the former people may have to recognise that there is a difference between campaigning for civil equality and declaring discipline or defining holiness for the Church of Christ, a difference between including all who come to Christ and being indifferent to how human lives are actually challenged and altered by him.

Monday, June 20, 2005

[Christianity Today, UK] June 20, 2005--The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has said that he can see no "theological objections" to a woman leading the Anglican Communion in the future, and also that he believed that many Christians allowed their views to become so strong that they risked being bigoted against homosexuals.

[ekklesia] June 20, 2005--Anglican leaders will hear tomorrow a theological justification by the heads of the Canadian and American churches for their recent actions relating to how they have addressed issues surrounding homosexuality in the church, reports the Times newspaper.

[Daily Pilot] June 18, 2005--A breakaway Newport Beach church being sued by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles filed a counter suit this week, alleging breach of contract in its current property dispute, attorneys disclosed Friday.

[Times Online] June 20, 2005--Anglican leaders will hear for the first time tomorrow a theological justification by the heads of the Canadian and American churches for their actions over homosexuals, which have brought the Anglican community to the brink of schism.

[Virtue Online] June 17, 2005--)--"We saw this coming; the 1998 Lambeth Conference was an ecclesiastical one flew over the cuckoos nest, with documents being lost and more. We had two priorities; to work hard to make it happen and we had to lay a foundation for the future."

[Anglican Mainstream] June 19, 2005--in complete defiance of the Primates of the Anglican Communion, has sent their delegates to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting currently underway in Nottingham, England. In their 2005 Communique issued from Dromantine, the Primates called on the American delegation to withdraw voluntarily from the ACC. Subsequently, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church announced that the delegation – the Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, the Rev. Robert Sessum and Ms. Josephine Hicks – would not attend in an “official” capacity but would be present as “observers.” It is important to note that this is contrary to the Primates’ expressed expectation and was not sanctioned by the Council as a whole.

[The Modesto Bee] June 18, 2005--When Jane Chynoweth looks around St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, memories flood her mind. The church is where she raised children, socialized with lifelong friends and worshiped for more than 40 years.

[San Gabriel Valley Tribune] June 18, 2005--The Rev. Susan Russell, a priest at All Saints Church in Pasadena, will be the only gay participant in what observers call a historic discussion of homosexuality in the Anglican church.

[Anglican Mainstream] June 19, 2005--Canon Joel Edwards, the General Director of the UK Evangelical Alliance, preached to the first Eucharist of the ACC in St Peter's Church Nottingham. The following is a précis taken from notes at the time.

[ENS, Nottingham] June 19, 2005--Under the theme "Living Communion," the 13th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) opened in Nottingham at 10 a.m. today with a service of worship and a business session for roll call and introductory proceedings.

[The Living Church] June 19, 2005--Unofficial representatives from the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada dined with, but were later seated apart from the Anglican Consultative Council delegates for the opening orientation session on June 18. The 10-day meeting is considered by many to be a “make or break” one for the Episcopal Church and its relations within the Anglican Communion.